Polaroid - the impossible project
22.01.2010
Instant photography was introduced to the world by Edwin Land (who founded the Polaroid Corporation) in New York City on February 21st 1947, a year later in 1848, the first Polaroid Model 95 camera and Type 40 film went on sale to the general public selling out quickly in Boston stores.
Polaroid continued to develop many variations of the camera and by 1963 it had sold 5 million. In the same year the first colour Polaroid film came out of the lab and into the stores, proving an instant success. In 1972, the revolutionary Polaroid SX-70 was introduced, magazines, newspapers and the public couldn’t get enough of this work of wonder that folded flat and produced photographs instantly. Many iterations came and went through the years. Many vain attempts were made to increase the popularity and stop people from switching to digital in the late nineties and early noughties, but sadly on February 8th 2008, Polaroid ‘announced’ all instant film production will cease in 2008/2009. A truly sad day for the photographic world.
Those of us who were born in the right era will no doubt have fond memories of the first time they laid eyes on a Polaroid camera. The first time I witnessed the obscure looking box flash into life and spit out a small white piece of film was truly magical. What made it even more exciting was the anticipation as the cloudy picture came to life before your eyes.
When I was younger (see the rather cute Polaroid of me on my 1st birthday) someone once told me that if you waved the picture around it developed quicker, I later learnt that it actually had no effect whatsoever on the film of that era, but was something that worked when the very first peel apart film came out. Still it certainly was fun to do.
Later on in life, as I started my career as a designer, I was able to art direct my first few shoots and work alongside professional photographers where I experienced Polaroid film again, but in a commercial environment. Being the ‘new boy’ I was given the task of rubbing the Polaroid test film to speed up the development, which although certainly wasn’t as thrilling as those first few homemade snaps coming to life still had a great sense of anticipation.
Fast-forward to the twenty first century and the Polaroid picture itself has become an icon, which in turn has made the Polaroid brand itself iconic. Photographers, both amateur and professional the world over, still use it (if they can get hold of it) and create stunning images. You don’t have to search very hard to find people who have taken the ‘Polaroid 365′ challenge, which consists of taking a picture every day for a year. Most have posted it online for the world to see, one of my favourite examples of this can be seen here - http://polaroid365.tumblr.com/
Seemingly, the demise of the humble Polaroid tugged at the heartstrings of many people. It suggested that there were around 1 billion Polaroid cameras in the world when the last film came off the production line. It would seem that a vast amount of those owners want film to put in them and this is how ‘The Impossible Project’ came about.
‘The Impossible Project’ was formed by a group of likeminded people who founded a company called Impossible b.v., and went about acquiring the complete film production equipment in Enschede (NL) from Polaroid. They were successful in their mission and have subsequently signed a 10-year lease agreement on the factory building, they have proceeded to hire the former employees and buy the machinery necessary to reboot the legacy.
Impossible b.v. has been founded with the concrete aim to re-invent and re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras.
In their words - “The Impossible mission is NOT to re-build Polaroid Integral film, but (with the help of strategic partners) to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films.”
Here you can watch an interview from one of the people behind the impossible project talking at the PhotoPlus Expo 2009 about how things are progressing and what exciting things they have in development for 2010.
So while Polaroid is transforming itself from an analog Instant Film Production Company to a global Consumer Electronics by partnering with new young starlets such as their new Creative Director Lady Gaga, this team of people are taking the fight to digital photography and breathing life back into the billion or so treasured, collectable but oh-so-loved Polaroid cameras in the world.
So hats off to the ‘The Impossible Project’, in their hands the simple Polaroid as we know it has a great future, one that may even capture the latest generation.
Thanks to Capt Kodak on Flickr for the images.
Tags: photography, Polaroid
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Never gone away fro me…still have a few hundred shots on ice.
Also dont forget those polaroid iPhone apps for fun….http://shakeitphoto.com/
Buit great to see that this format is going to be alive again, great work from dedicated people.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:43 am
Long live Polaroid!!
One of my favourite Polaroid 365’s is ongoing right now and uses only expired film … check out Jo Bradford’s 365 Goodbyes, where she works her way through her personal stockpile of expired Polaroid with a picture a day for 2010.
http://www.365goodbyes.tumblr.com